[1] His parents divorced when he was young and he would live with his mother but spend time with his dad at protests to save Pike Place Market.

[2][3][4] In the 1980s and '90s, Steinbrueck was a civil activist as a leading advocate and author of the Citizens Alternative Plan, focusing on limiting downtown building heights.

[2][3][5] The CAP campaign was partially fueled by the failure to preserve Westlake Park as open space, which was supported by his father Victor before he died in 1984.

[4] Over his tenure, Steinbrueck led legislation that focused on early education, the environment, homeless services, housing, and historic preservation.

[17][18][19] In 2021, Steinbrueck ran for reelection and lost to Toshiko Grace Hasegawa, the executive director of the Washington State Commission on Asian-Pacific American Affairs, 45% to 54%.

[2][4][9][22] He has been a visiting instructor at the University of Washington’s College of the Built Environments and is a frequent speaker, commentator, and writer on the emerging framework for advancing the environmental sustainability of cities and regions.

In 2009, Steinbrueck was named a Loeb Fellow in the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, where he completed the academic year 2009-10 of independent research focused on the environment, climate change, and urban sustainability in the United States.